The invention relates to a card-shaped data carrier for contactless uses, comprising a card body having a body main surface and having dimensions corresponding to the dimensions of a card body of a card-shaped data carrier for contact-bound uses in accordance with the standard ISO 7810, and incorporating at least one component for the contactless uses, which component has component connecting contacts, and at least one transmission device for the contactless uses, which transmission device has transmission-device connecting contacts, the component connecting contacts being connected to the transmission-device connecting contacts in an electrically conductive manner.
The invention further relates to a method of manufacturing a data carrier for contactless uses, in which a card body having a body main surface is manufactured, which card body has dimensions corresponding to the dimensions of a card-shaped data carrier for contact-bound uses in accordance with the standard ISO 7810, and in which during the manufacture of the card body at least one component intended for the contactless uses and having component connecting contacts, and at least one transmission device having transmission-device connecting contacts are incorporated in the card body.
The invention further relates to a module adapted for use in a data carrier which comprises a plate-shaped component carrier bounded by a first carrier main surface and a second carrier main surface parallel to the first carrier main surface, and a component connected to the component carrier and projecting from the second carrier main surface, and at least two module connecting contacts connected to the component carrier, situated in the area of the second carrier main surface and adapted to cooperate with transmission-device connecting contacts.
Card-shaped data carriers, modules and manufacturing methods related to the general types referenced above are known, such as card-shaped data carriers implemented in several variants for a variety of uses, for example, in the form of access control cards for the automatic opening of doors.
During the manufacture of the known card-shaped data carrier for contactless uses, a component for contactless uses, formed by a chip, is attached to a component carrier and the component connecting contacts are connected to the module connecting contacts in an electrically conductive manner by means of bonding wires, as a result of which a module for contactless uses is obtained, which module is assembled with a transmission device in the form of a coil to form a so-called transponder unit, the module connecting contacts and the coil connecting contacts provided as transmission-device connecting contacts being connected to one another, for example, by means of a so-called bonding process. A transponder unit thus obtained is subsequently incorporated in the card body during the manufacture of the card-shaped data carrier, the positions of the transponder unit and its parts, i.e. the module, its component and the coil, not being subject to any special regulations or conditions to be observed and adhered to. The known card-shaped data carrier for contactless uses has the problem that the coil provided as the transmission device is connected to the module and thus to the chip forming the component before mounting in the card body of the data carrier, as a result of which it must be manipulated together with the module during the production of the data carrier, which entails the risk of damaging of the coil which forms the transmission device. This has the drawback that in the case of such damage to the coil during the production of the data carrier an inoperative data carrier is obtained, but this cannot be checked until the data carrier has been completed. Furthermore, the known data carrier for contactless uses has the problem that for its production a dedicated production method is required and that for carrying out this production method machines and equipment have to be used which are only suitable for this production method. This is undesirable particularly in view of the fact that a data carrier manufacturer not only manufactures card-shaped data carriers for contactless uses but also data carriers for contact-bound uses, in which case the data carrier manufacturer requires and employs both machines and equipment for the production of contactless data carriers and machines and equipment for the production of contact-bound data carriers.